Alternate universe where Charleston continued to grow
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Charleston's economy was linked too closely with the coal and chemical industries. As they declined in the region, so too did the engineering firms, banks, insurance companies, light manufacturing, industrial supply companies, etc... They packed up and moved to larger metros like Columbus and Pittsburgh. The business climate in Charleston has never been attractive enough to draw in companies that were independent of those industries (for the most part).
You certainly cannot compare Richmond to Charleston. Richmond has a great location, reasonably flat and developable land, and has been an important city for all of its history. Heck, it was chosen as the capital of the Confederacy while Charleston was just a village during that time. Metro Richmond is far more prosperous than any part of West Virginia.
I think that the lack of flat land in Charleston is only a minor issue. Pittsburgh is a prime example of a city that overcame terrain to grow. Even in Charleston, they have found a way to develop the surrounding hillsides. Also, there's still plenty of land in the valley that can be redeveloped. It is what is happening now to some degree.
The thing that has kept major distribution centers out of WV in general is the inventory tax. That's right, a tax on the amount of stuff a company is storing up. Rather ridiculous if you ask me!
The inventory tax is simply a part of the state property tax. It's a very small tax, too. To complain because other states don't have a similar tax ignores the fact that differences exist in every area of taxation. Every company has to account for differences from state to state (and even city to city) in how they conduct their businesses. Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, and about a dozen other cities have User Fees, each of which require companies to pay different taxes in different places.
The inventory tax is the same tax that allows you to pay lower taxes as your car ages. You pay based on the estimated market value of what you own in July 1 of each year. The property tax is the major source of funding for schools and county government.
The Charleston area has warehousing (in Nitro and Rock Branch) and Kroger used to have a warehouse facility in Marmet. Kroger didn't close the warehouse because some new "inventory tax" was suddenly imposed. The tax existed when the warehouse was built, and it still exists. As I recall, they simply consolidated distribution in fewer warehouses.
The inventory tax is simply a part of the state property tax. It's a very small tax, too. To complain because other states don't have a similar tax ignores the fact that differences exist in every area of taxation. Every company has to account for differences from state to state (and even city to city) in how they conduct their businesses. Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, and about a dozen other cities have User Fees, each of which require companies to pay different taxes in different places.
The inventory tax is the same tax that allows you to pay lower taxes as your car ages. You pay based on the estimated market value of what you own in July 1 of each year. The property tax is the major source of funding for schools and county government.
The Charleston area has warehousing (in Nitro and Rock Branch) and Kroger used to have a warehouse facility in Marmet. Kroger didn't close the warehouse because some new "inventory tax" was suddenly imposed. The tax existed when the warehouse was built, and it still exists. As I recall, they simply consolidated distribution in fewer warehouses.
Kroger did, correct - the warehouse moved to Roanoke when they moved the Mid-Atlantic regional headquarters there (which ironically is now in/ just moved to...Richmond)
Charleston's economy was linked too closely with the coal and chemical industries. As they declined in the region, so too did the engineering firms, banks, insurance companies, light manufacturing, industrial supply companies, etc... They packed up and moved to larger metros like Columbus and Pittsburgh. The business climate in Charleston has never been attractive enough to draw in companies that were independent of those industries (for the most part).
You certainly cannot compare Richmond to Charleston. Richmond has a great location, reasonably flat and developable land, and has been an important city for all of its history. Heck, it was chosen as the capital of the Confederacy while Charleston was just a village during that time. Metro Richmond is far more prosperous than any part of West Virginia.
I think that the lack of flat land in Charleston is only a minor issue. Pittsburgh is a prime example of a city that overcame terrain to grow. Even in Charleston, they have found a way to develop the surrounding hillsides. Also, there's still plenty of land in the valley that can be redeveloped. It is what is happening now to some degree.
The thing that has kept major distribution centers out of WV in general is the inventory tax. That's right, a tax on the amount of stuff a company is storing up. Rather ridiculous if you ask me!
I've often felt that flat land is only a minor issue- plenty of cities in the middle of mountainous areas have been able to grow. Add in there are hundreds if not thousands of acres of flat former industrial sites in the Kanawha Valley then you have even more opportunity for growth should it come that way.
Pittsburgh despite having an economic turnaround of sorts is still not growing though. There are pockets of growth in certain spots but overall the metro area despite being considerably much larger than metro Charleston (2.4 million versus maybe 200k), still possesses many of the demographic trends of the Kanawha Valley that cause a decline in population: More deaths than births due to an old population, domestic outmigration and limited international immigration. To be fair, more and more places in the US are going to start growing slower as a result of an aging population but areas like these, Cleveland, Buffalo, etc are just ahead of the curb.
Charleston's economy was linked too closely with the coal and chemical industries. As they declined in the region, so too did the engineering firms, banks, insurance companies, light manufacturing, industrial supply companies, etc... They packed up and moved to larger metros like Columbus and Pittsburgh. The business climate in Charleston has never been attractive enough to draw in companies that were independent of those industries (for the most part).
You certainly cannot compare Richmond to Charleston. Richmond has a great location, reasonably flat and developable land, and has been an important city for all of its history. Heck, it was chosen as the capital of the Confederacy while Charleston was just a village during that time. Metro Richmond is far more prosperous than any part of West Virginia.
I think that the lack of flat land in Charleston is only a minor issue. Pittsburgh is a prime example of a city that overcame terrain to grow. Even in Charleston, they have found a way to develop the surrounding hillsides. Also, there's still plenty of land in the valley that can be redeveloped. It is what is happening now to some degree.
The thing that has kept major distribution centers out of WV in general is the inventory tax. That's right, a tax on the amount of stuff a company is storing up. Rather ridiculous if you ask me!
Northern Panhandle is doing fine in that regard as of late. Warehouses and plants have moved in there because Weirton and Wheeling (and the rest of the north to an extent) are actually close to major highways and civilization. Distributors don't want to be in the south where they're near, well, nothing. This is something that companies could work around in the past if the state and local governments sang the right numbers to them financially but these days the costs of transportation and logistics dictate where these facilities go. You give a distributor a choice between say Weirton and Charleston they will pick Weirton without hesitation.
The inventory tax is simply a part of the state property tax. It's a very small tax, too. To complain because other states don't have a similar tax ignores the fact that differences exist in every area of taxation. Every company has to account for differences from state to state (and even city to city) in how they conduct their businesses. Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, and about a dozen other cities have User Fees, each of which require companies to pay different taxes in different places.
The inventory tax is the same tax that allows you to pay lower taxes as your car ages. You pay based on the estimated market value of what you own in July 1 of each year. The property tax is the major source of funding for schools and county government.
The Charleston area has warehousing (in Nitro and Rock Branch) and Kroger used to have a warehouse facility in Marmet. Kroger didn't close the warehouse because some new "inventory tax" was suddenly imposed. The tax existed when the warehouse was built, and it still exists. As I recall, they simply consolidated distribution in fewer warehouses.
Not really. I formerly worked in Rock Branch, and the distribution that was there was mainly for local use. Nothing on the scale of what could happen without the inventory tax. Yes, I believe that it plays a role. My former employer was always a strong opposition to the tax because it hurt his ability to expand his business.
The type of distribution centers that I am referring to is the kind that you see along I-81 in PA/MD and to some extent WV. The ones in WV has received tax incentives to locate there. Walmart, Target, Petco, Tractor Supply, Amazon, etc... are much larger and require much larger workforces to operate their facilities. WV really doesn't have warehouses like this, with a few exceptions. Our nations economy is a service based one, and these facilities are crucial to the supply chain. Charleston doesn't really have the land to support these types of warehouses, but the 3 interstates make it an ideal location. Plus only being 3-4 hours away from several major markets.
Not really. I formerly worked in Rock Branch, and the distribution that was there was mainly for local use. Nothing on the scale of what could happen without the inventory tax. Yes, I believe that it plays a role. My former employer was always a strong opposition to the tax because it hurt his ability to expand his business.
The type of distribution centers that I am referring to is the kind that you see along I-81 in PA/MD and to some extent WV. The ones in WV has received tax incentives to locate there. Walmart, Target, Petco, Tractor Supply, Amazon, etc... are much larger and require much larger workforces to operate their facilities. WV really doesn't have warehouses like this, with a few exceptions. Our nations economy is a service based one, and these facilities are crucial to the supply chain. Charleston doesn't really have the land to support these types of warehouses, but the 3 interstates make it an ideal location. Plus only being 3-4 hours away from several major markets.
There's been a lot of manufacturing and warehouse growth in the EP. I would imagine Kanawha could also benefit from that, if WV is more attractive for job growth than VA and MD in those areas.
If it's a flat land issue, I think it would be beneficial for the state to flatten land and develop business parks and industrial mega sites for companies to use.
On a hopeful side, there's been a lot of job announcements (Mason Co & Jackson Co) within commuting distance of Charleston. Nucor, Berkshire Hathaway, GreenPower, etc employees would probably mostly reside in Putnam County. I imagine that will drive up Charleston's commercial market.
Jackson County is included in Charleston's MSA. Since Putnam won't be able to build homes fast enough (there is a very low housing stock there currently with short listing times), I imagine some of that could spill over into Kanawha County as residential.
Hopefully the upcoming gubernatorial election brings a real superhero for economic activity and infrastructure.
Last edited by Archer705; 09-28-2023 at 06:08 PM..
There's been a lot of manufacturing and warehouse growth in the EP. I would imagine Kanawha could also benefit from that, if WV is more attractive for job growth than VA and MD in those areas.
If it's a flat land issue, I think it would be beneficial for the state to flatten land and develop business parks and industrial mega sites for companies to use.
On a hopeful side, there's been a lot of job announcements (Mason Co & Jackson Co) within commuting distance of Charleston. Nucor, Berkshire Hathaway, GreenPower, etc employees would probably mostly reside in Putnam County. I imagine that will drive up Charleston's commercial market.
Jackson County is included in Charleston's MSA. Since Putnam won't be able to build homes fast enough (there is a very low housing stock there currently with short listing times), I imagine some of that could spill over into Kanawha County as residential.
Hopefully the upcoming gubernatorial election brings a real superhero for economic activity and infrastructure.
You bring up a good point Archer- I too have been surprised at the number of business expansions in Mason County.
And yes the Eastern Panhandle benefits from prime proximity along Interstate 81 which is one of the biggest trucking corridors in the nation.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
